Over the festive period, residents and businesses in areas across West Sussex and Brighton & Hove, could get their Christmas trees collected in return for a voluntary donation to St Barnabas House hospice and Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice. The total is now in, and the recycling initiative raised over £18,000!
Over 1200 residents signed up to the scheme through Just Helping, a UK charity who partnered with the hospices, with over 1,280 trees being taken to several local tree recycling plants.
Speaking about the initiative, Charlotte Waring at St Barnabas House and Chestnut Tree House, said “We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who got involved with the initiative this year and helped to make it a great success. We rely heavily on the generosity and support of the community, and we’re so grateful to everyone who pulled together and helped raise over £18,000 from donations through the Christmas tree recycling initiative.
“It wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our wonderful volunteers who gave up their time to help with the tree collections,” says Charlotte. 38 volunteers helped collect the Christmas Trees in a COVID-secure way between 08 and 12 January 2022. One of the first volunteers to sign up to help Chestnut Tree House was Roger Chapman, from Old Village Home & Garden Services.
“I have been involved with Chestnut Tree House for many years now,” says Roger. “And as soon as I heard about the Christmas Tree Recycling scheme, I knew I had to get involved and help raise vital funds for the hospice. I love supporting the charity for many reasons – it’s a great opportunity for my business to get involved in the local community and to give something back, but at the heart of it all, it’s that I can help children who need hospice care.”
Warnes Project also signed up to the scheme in support of St Barnabas House. “We have been supporting St Barnabas for four years now, and we are always looking for dynamic ways to help the charity,” says Steve from Warnes Project. “We knew we had to get involved with the Christmas Tree Recycling project earlier in 2021, we reached out to local garden centres and the local council to help get the initiative started. We also offered our yard as the collection hub. We are thrilled that the project was so successful and were happy to help with raising funds for this exceptional charity.”
Charlotte continues: “I would like to say a big thank you to Roger, Steve, and all the volunteers, as well as all the amazing local businesses, volunteers and residents involved with the collection. Without people like you in our local community, hospice care wouldn’t be possible.”
To find out more about St Barnabas House and Chestnut Tree House, please visit www.stbh.org.uk or www.chestnut.org.uk
